Hey. I just built my first system, and I just have some OC questions:

1. I got an Intel E8500 advertised at 3.16GHz. But when I check the clock speed with cpuz or other software like that, the clock speed varies from around 2.0 to 2.3 GHz. The bus speed is pretty constant at around 333MHz, but the multiplier thing (as I said, I'm a noob) switches from 6x to 7x. Does this mean my cpu is underclocked? A friend of mine said that the cpu may not use its full power when it doesn't feel it needs it. Would that be the case? If so, how can I check the max that my cpu will go to?

2. If I do want to overclock, what exactly should I do? From minimal research, I think that the two ways to overclock a cpu is to either change the bus speed or change the multiplier thing? Does it matter which one I change to achieve my result? Is one safer than the other?

3. What's a good temperature for the CPU? Right now it's running at around 17-18 C. How far should I let it go before I stop trying to overclock?

There is a setting in BIOS called SpeedStep that will lower the multiplyer when the system is at idle. When you stress the system it should go to the full speed. My understanding was that this is for power savings.

As for overclocking, I recommend reading http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] uals-guide first. I read it .. a few times now. I was confused as this was my first time overclocking, but between this guide, my motherboard manual (love asus descriptions of BIOS settings), and internet searches for explanations of things I still didnt understand I now have a system that is seemingly stable at some pretty nice speeds.

Good luck,

Anthony

You are better off reading an entire article to get a full understanding. I will give a brief answer to questions though.

1. SpeedStep, just disable it if you want to always run at full speed.
2. If you choose an FSB that is too high for your memory then your system can become unstable. The multiplier allows you to achieve high CPU clock-speeds without having FSB as a limiter.

My setup:
445 FSB
9x cpu multiplier
2x mem multiplier

CPU Speed: 4005 mhz
Mem speed: 890mhz

My memory is rated at 800mhz so as you can see I do have it overclocked slightly. Suppose my cpu multiplier was 8, then my cpu clock would be 3560mhz while my memory is still at the same OC.

Now, if I try to achieve the same clock speed with a 8x cpu multiplier:
500 fsb
8x cpu multiplier
2x mem multiplier

CPU speed: 4005 mhz
Mem speed: 1000mhz (system would probably not boot)

I am always amazed that this comes up. I know everyone is new to these things, but in every guide it talks about speedstep and this happening. If you google the same thing, it comes up as well.

It's just funny that we answer these questions so often.

My memory was advertised at 1066mhz, so would I'm guessing it'd be safe to go that high? And maybe even 1200 (max mobo supports)? My ram came with separate fans for it if it matters.

How hot does your cpu run at 4ghz?

Also, would the best way to see what my cpu is actually clocked at be just disabling SpeedStep, running cpu-z, and then just renabling it?

From what you said I'm drawing that you don't need to worry about the bus speed itself, just worry about what it will effect (i.e., if your computer fails, its not because the bus speed it too high, it'd be because your buss speed combined with the multiplier for a given component causes that component to run to high).

And does the bus effect anything other than cpu and ram? like gpus?

You really should read the overclockers guide here, or at other sites

I'll second that. I've seen about 5 posts in the past few days asking the exact same thing.

I checked my BIOS and SpeedStep wasn't enabled. I changed the internal cpu multiplier to 9.5 using an ASUS utility. When I ran cpuz at first, the clock speed was at 3.16GHz, but when I checked again a few minutes later, it was back down to 6.0x and 2GHz. I'm going to read through the oc guide carefully and change it through the BIOS, but I'm wondering why this is happening...

edit: I'm getting weird readings. cpuz shows me 3.16 for a second when i start it and then goes back down to around 2, randomly going up to 3.16 for a second again at times. An ASUS utility is behaving very similarly. But CoreTemp is showing me 3.16 pretty consistently.

Also, CoreTemp gives me a much higher temperature (just below 40C with minimal load), while the ASUS utility is showing me just under 20C, even for the few seconds it shows me 3.16GHz.

edit 2: I changed the internal multiplier directly from the bios, and now cpuz switches between 2GHz and 3.16 more often. Core temp is still constant at 3.16GHz

mabye its an overlcoking utilty you have running.. but speed step is def your issure there

also though unlikely, your chip could be throttling down due to excessive temps... although ur utils dont show this i believe high temps could cause this tooo?>

yeah i really don't know why i keep bothering to read these sort of threads. if you have half a brain read a **** guide or google it. im sick of this **** seriously

its the same old junk that many people put up.cant they just read the sticky?it has more then what you need to know! not gonna bother.

Like I said SpeedStep wasn't enabled. I boot up with SpeedStep disabled: cpuz alternates between 3.16GHz and 2. Core Temp stays at 3.16. AI Suite alternates between 2 and 3.16.

Just to make sure I wasn't going crazy and losing my ability to read simple text, I enabled SpeedStep from the BIOS. The only thing that changed is now CoreTemp also shows the cpu speed at 2GHz. The other two still alternate.

if all else fails, and what you shouda done first is hit up the sticky for sure tho bro, either you have setting wrong in the bios, your not reading your information right, or some application is effecting your settings-- hit up the sticky tho def

It was C1E, not SpeedStep...

I'd already read the sticky but I guess I missed that...